alec_leads | (no subject)

Ginny's hair is extra bouncy, outfit extra cute, eyes extra bright - well, if she had a tail, it would be extra bushy. She is feeling great about the spell last night - there were a few twinges of guilt when she heard there'd been damage, but it doesn't sound like anyone was hurt, so the guilt didn't really last.

Also, she knows she will see Alec, at least during history.

Thus the hair. And the outfit.

Oh, hey look! There she is!

"Hi, Ginny," he says, walking over, looking cool.

Or he would be looking cool until he trips over his not quite tied shoelace.

He doesn't fall! He totally meant to do that!

Ginny catches his elbow and smiles at him.

"I saw nothing at all," she assures him.

He blushes like an idiot.

"Yeah, so, hi. Um. Did you see the news?"

"I did," she says, glancing around and lowering her voice. "I'm just glad we didn't do any serious damage - but did you see the weather this morning? He looked so confused!" She giggles at the memory.

"You were amazing. You fit right in. It's really good to have a fifth person. You'd think four would be just right, but five is a better number."

Ginny smiles at him. "I really enjoyed it," she tells him. "I can't wait to learn more - I'm even considering picking up one of those books Tom seems to like so much."

Alec chuckles a little nervously. "Just be sure and ask first, okay? He can get testy about his books."

Ginny raises an eyebrow. "So all the books there belong to him, even though it's the house the whole coven uses? And where do you learn new stuff, if you're not allowed to read the books? Just what he teaches you? I mean, I don't know anything, and I'm not going to wait around for Tom Riddle to decide what I am and am not allowed to know."

"Okay, whoa," he says, holding out a hand to say stop.

"I know he can be- uh- difficult, but it's not like that. He'll let you learn whatever. He just likes to know where his books are. They mean a lot to him. He also knows what magic will work for each of us, and what might be dangerous for us to mess with if we're not ready. And, well, there's the whole thing where that house is kind of the only thing he has that's his. Did you know about him?"

Ginny subsides a little.

"Sorry," she says. "No, I don't really know anything about him."

"Well, it's not like it's top secret or anything, but he's sensitive about it. I would be, too. He's an orphan. He lives in a group home with, like, twelve other kids. His mom died when he was a baby or something; he doesn't say much about it. That was back in England. Then he came here to live with his uncle, and his uncle died in a house fire. So, I mean, he's had it rough."

He shrugs.

"He's not a bad guy. He's just... Tom."

"That's really sad," she admits. "And, I mean, I guess it explains some things. But having a rough life still doesn't give anyone a free pass to be a dick."

Alec shrugs again and then chuckles.

"Alyce and I say... well. We say he may be an asshole, but he's our asshole. You know? He's a good leader. He's not, like, my buddy or anything, but I wouldn't be in a coven without him."

"I guess that's true. I mean, I wouldn't be without Alyce, or maybe Trixi, I suppose, but if Tom got you and Alyce in in the first place I suppose I have him to that, too."

Ginny shakes her head. "Anyway, I don't really want to talk about Tom Riddle. I'd much rather head more about you."

"Yeah?"

The blushing... there is no stopping it!

"Um, okay, sure! What do you wanna know?"

"Oh, anything! What sorts of things you like aside from magic, favorite classes or books or movies or whatever. Any girlfriend or boyfriend I should know about?"

Ginny smiles innocently. "I figure I should get to know the people I'm in a coven with."

Cue deer in the headlights look.

Boyfriend or girlfriend? Does she know? Is she psychic?

"I'm not seeing anyone," he blurts out. "Uh, I mean, yeah. Not right now. Dating is tricky when your extracurricular activities include ritual magic."

Not psychic! Just open-minded! Also: trying to make sure she's not wasting any of her not inconsiderable flirting skills on a guy who wouldn't be interested in them.

"I guess it would be! I hadn't really thought about that." Ginny looks a little horrified - she hasn't been without a boyfriend for more than a couple months at a time since she was fourteen.

"It's not impossible! It's just tricky. I mean, it takes a special person to get who we really are, and it's not safe or smart to blurt out 'oh, by the way, I caused that storm that gave your car hail damage.' You know? So what usually happens is we just date for fun and not for serious, and you just leave the magic part out."

"Unless the person you're dating already knows, I guess," Ginny points out.

Innocently! So very innocently!

"I'll have to keep it in mind, anyway. I'm sure I'm going to start meeting lots of other people soon."

"Yeah, it's, like, super convenient if they already know."

Aieeee, flail, flail... She will so totally meet other people. More attractive people! More interesting people!

"Um, hey, you wanna go with me for coffee after school? The Espresso Pump has the best coffee in town."

Ginny beams at him.

"I'd love to, but I have soccer try-outs until four-thirty. Can you wait until after that? Or tomorrow?"

"I can wait!"

He is, perhaps, a little too enthusiastic in his response. He tones himself down about ten notches.

"I have a paper to research anyway, so I'll go tothe library. Soccer, huh?"

"Great! I really don't know where anything is in Sunnydale, so it's really sweet of you to show me all the good spots. And, yeah, soccer - I've been playing pretty much as long as I can remember. I really hope I make the team here."

Ginny is actually not very worried - the Sunnydale team is better than her old school's team, but she was one of the best players there, and besides, one of Sunnydale's star strikers graduated last year, and the other died in some sort of horrible gang-related fight over the summer. Ginny's heard the guys were on some sort of drugs or something.